Oh Hi, Captain Obvious

It is absolutely KILLING me that the best match of the women's side so far is all tied up at one set all at the suspension of play. I want to know what happens, damn it!

Henin/Sharapova may not be one of the most immediately obvious of the WTA rivalries, but I think it is certainly one of the most compelling. I will never forget that three hour match they played at the year ending championships a few years back, where Henin got through - or that absolute beatdown MaSha put on JuJu at the AO early the next year. Even when neither is on top of their game, they both play totally watchable tennis when they play each other.

And, I confess, I'm sort of hoping they wear each other out and make Sam Stosur's path that little bit easier... look at me, all parochial. Who woulda thunk.

The winners: Rafa Nadal. Duh. He is putting the beatdown on anyone who so much as looks at him sideways. I know clay isn't Lleyton Hewitt's best surface, but Rafa put him down like a rabid dog. Scary stuff.

A beatdown was also issued by, surprisingly, Jurgen Melzer. Totes did not expect him to beat Ferrer, mostly because I had completely forgotten he existed. I'm pretty sure this is the Djokovic quarter, which means Melzer has a good a chance as any of winning it. Go the Jurgenator.

And from the women, let's talk Sam Stosur, who had a sweetly routine win over Anastasia Pivovarova. And let's also talk Daniela Hantuchova, whom I also always forget about, who triumphed unexpectedly against Yanina Wickmayer. Great stuff from both ladies.

The losers: David Ferrer. Big time. He had what was basically a clear path to the quarters, and he screwed it up and screwed it up good. Like, a screw up of an epic degree. I understand that Jurgen Melzer was playing awesome tennis, but straights, Ferru? Really?

And I have to put Yanina Wickmayer in here as well. I know DaniHani is massively talented, but hello, Yanina, so are you. I guess she's just come off elbow surgery, so I shouldn't be too harsh on her, but I totally thought she was a dark horse for this section of the draw. And I don't like being proven wrong.

Oh look, Captain Obvious has just paid us a visit? You know who was a big-ass loser today at Roland Garros? Andy Roddick. I know he was maybe sick and he doesn't exactly love clay, but he should at least have been able to take a set off Gabashvili. At least.

The disappointments: Juan Carlos Ferrero. I totally picked him to come through his section of the draw, and he did not do me proud, to say the least. You can beat Novak Djokovic is breathing a lot easier (allergies aside) now that the two Spaniards are out of his section. JCF totally had more in him than this.

And Alisa Kleybanova? WTF? I've seen Yaroslava Shvedova play live and she's got some serious game going on, but I thought Alisa would have been able to outclub her. Obviously I was wrong. Well done Slava, I guess.

Oh, and Captain Obvious has just informed me Marion Bartoli should be in here. I guess I never really pay enough attention to her (except to comment on her weird-ass shots) to notice when she loses.

The scraped-in-by-the-skin-of-teeth: Greetings, Nadia Petrova. I am so glad Nadz took out this match, not just because I like her (which I do) but because someone had to kill that damn gold dress. Nadz is super talented and totally deserves this fourth round run. I hope she can make it even further!

And oh hi, Robby Ginepri. I was very disappointed that your opponent JCF lost, but you totally deserved this win. Who woulda thunk you would be the good news story for American mens' tennis from this tournament? Certainly not me.

One to watch: Teimuraz Gabashvili. I know Roddick was not that well and doesn't like clay, but straights, dude? You've got a little sumthin' sumthin' going on if you can pull that one off. This could be his breakthrough tournament (even though it feels like he's been round for a million years...)

Roland Garros 2010 - The Gents

A little late but definitely better than never - we did the predictions for the girls yesterday, it's time for the boys. We have our first dude winner in Marin Cilic - he won, like, five seconds ago. But everything else is still up to fate...

(Oh, off the subject of dudes, well done to Sveta Kuznetsova for doing stupendously in her first round match. I really thought Sorana Cirstea was going to hurt her badly, but she cruised through with very little trouble at all. Yay Sveta.)

Okay. The dudes.

Roger's quarter: This is a stacked quarter and no mistake. I mean, it's not super heinous or anything like that, but it has every dark horse in it that I could have possibly imagined. Let's see who we have in there... Tipsarevic, Gulbis, Montanes, Monfils, Wawrinka... it's stacked. And then we have some big time seeds like Cilic and Soderling. And then randoms like Dmitry Tursunov (where have you been?)

But I'm not picking against Roger here. I know he's not been playing so well of late, but he peaks at Slams. We know this. And he has comparatively little pressure coming in here, when you consider what's been going on for him in years past. He's held that cup. He's been there. And it may sound cheesy, but I believe in him.

There are lots of people with a good shot in this quarter, but I don't think there's much that can overcome the Federer factor here. There could be a blockbuster quarter final with Soderling - that would be a nerve wracking match and no mistake! Insert Cilic here and you could have the same thing going on. But like I said - Roger all the way.

Winner: Roger Federer
If not him, then: Marin Cilic or Robin Soderling
Dark horse: Ernests Gulbis
First round matches to watch: Gulbis/Benneteau and Lapentti/Dent

Muzz's quarter: This may be Murray's quarter, but I don't know if I'd pick him to win it. He may have made the quarters last year, but I just don't think he's going there again - not just because he's not exactly Captain Clay, but due to this weird slump he's in. And with Nice champion Richard Gasquet up first round, I'm calling potential upset...

Compared to Federer's quarter, there's not as much going on in this one, and as far as I can see, the quarter is Jo-Wilfried Tsonga's to lose. He hasn't been playing spectacularly of late, but with his game, he has the ability to swing his way into the semis without too much trouble. There's not that many clay names in this quarter - not at all. Mikhail Youzhny and John Isner are the only dudes I can see who could seriously challenge...

...unless, and this is a very big unless, Andrey Golubev somehow catches fire like he did in Australia for a little bit. I haven't seen much of him on clay, but I was so, so impressed with what I saw from him in Australia this year. I will never forget sitting on a plane on the way to Perth and watching him absolutely demolish Igor Andreev. It ranks among some of the best tennis I have seen from people not named Federer, and I mean that.

Winner: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
If not him, then: Mikhail Youzhny or John Isner
Dark horse: Andrey Golubev (and, while he's not exactly a dark horse, Andy Murray)
First round matches to watch: Petzschner/Ball and Isner/Golubev

Novak's quarter: Djokovic better not focus too much on the clay court Spaniards lurking in his quarter, because there's a big danger lurking in his first round - you can bet your bottom dollar that Evgeny Korolev will not be taking any prisoners. I'm really looking forward to this match, because while it doesn't have upset written all over it, it is bearing the label 'big possibility of an upset right here'.

But if he does get through it, there are the aforementioned Spaniards lurking in David Ferrer and Juan Carlos Ferrero. The quarter really should be on Djokovic's racquet, but I don't know if it will quite play out like that. These Spaniards might just annoy him into submission, and hunch-wise, I really like past champ Ferrero.

I feel like we should talk about Andy Roddick, but because he hasn't played since Miami, it is not unreasonable to say he might not have his clay legs yet, and he really hasn't performed that awesomely here in the past. He has a reasonably forgiving draw, however - Monaco in the third round should be his first real threat.

Just noticed that if Djokovic does get through Korolev, he might just run into a very, very hungry Kei Nishikori in the second round. I don't think he'd be so happy about that.

Winner: Juan Carlos Ferrero
If not him, then: David Ferrer or Novak Djokovic
Dark horse: Sam Querrey
First round matches to watch: Djokovic/Korolev and Starace/Marchenko

Rafa's quarter: Dootsiez at All I Need Is A Picket Fence had it right when she said this quarter was full of people not named Nadal. It's full of Spaniards who would make a Djokovic or a Murray quail - the Almagros and Verdascos of the world - but they seem a little pale next to the might of Rafa, who is hungrier than ever before to get this title.

Gee, I wonder who will this section...?

I am hoping that Gianni Mina performs well in the first round, however, because he is an exciting young dude. I don't think he'll do anything sacrilegious like win a set, but at least a set of good competitive tennis would do wonders for his confidence. (And, indeed, the confidence of any player, ever, who could stay close to Rafa on the dirt).

Ljubicic and Bellucci are also good clay players active in this section, and we all know how Philipp Kohlschreiber can pull an upset. Lleyton Hewitt is also here, seeded to face the big man in the third round. You can bet he's dirty about that. Because I can tell you right now who will this section.

Winner: Rafael Nadal
If not him, then: Nicolas Almagro (but it will be Rafa)
Dark horses: Ivan Ljubicic and Philipp Kohlschreiber (but it will be Rafa)
First round matches to watch: Llodra/Bellucci and Ljubicic/Lu

This leaves us with the following semis:

Federer vs Tsonga
Ferrero vs Nadal

I would not be surprised to see a total repeat of the Australian Open semi for the Federman - that win had some psych-stuff attached to it, if you like me. He might falter if he gets ahead of himself and starts thinking about the final, but I think he learned his lesson about that last year.

I wonder who could possibly win the other semi. The only question is how many bagels there will be in it.

Which leaves us with:

Federer vs Nadal

The eternal question - can Federer beat Nadal for the Roland Garros title? And much as my heart says yes he can, he can do whatever, he's awesome, I have to go with Rafa on this one. This is his backyard, and to say he's in form... understatement of the century.

What did you pick?

Roman Holiday

Wow - Barcelona finished without me even noticing. I got all caught up in Fed Cup and then suddenly Rome's started and that whole week is gone.

A little late, but awesome work, Nando Verdasco. I haven't been reeeeeeeally convinced by Nando for a while now, but to back up a final in Monte Carlo (where, admittedly, he got crushed, but them's the haps when you play Rafa, I guess) with a win in Barcelona is pretty much epic. Didn't see the match and so thus can't comment, but Nando's making a push to be in those claycourt contenders this year. And good on him for it.

Now, we're all caught up. Over to Rome.

I'd have to say the award for biggest win of the day has to go to Ernests Gulbis. Yes, I know I'm biased, considering I've been clinging to the Gulbis train for a while now, but if he wins his next match I'm going to be cursing his name (he's playing Federer) and so I have to laud him now. Marcos Baghdatis is a tough, tough opponent, even if his ranking doesn't necessarily reflect this, and Gulbis smashed him like a guitar. I'm going to be very interested to see how Ernie does on clay - his breakthrough, we must remember, came at Roland Garros 2008...

Biggest loss of the day is a toss up between Sam Querrey and Juan Carlos Ferrero, but I'm going to have to go with the Mosquito on this one. A qualifier? Seriously, JC? I know you can do so much better than this...

...but perhaps, as it often happens on clay, this will be a blessing in disguise. Maybe JC will get some rest and be super fresh when he hits the home courts in Madrid...

Factoids for 700

Hey, guess what?! This is the offical 700th post on Tennis From The Backseat. Yes, I have dribbled on and on and on about tennis and I still have more to say. I don't know how informative or insightful that might stuff might be, but I'm going to keep saying it nonetheless.

Onto the real business of the day - I've been so wrapped up in the phantasmagorical victory of Ernests Gulbis over the weekend (hurrah!) that I forgot about all those other tournaments. And there are some interesting things there, so let's get started.

Factoid #1: Venus Williams has won more clay court tournaments than any other active player except Justine Henin.

I don't have too much to say about that except whoda thunk? V's never made a huge impact at RG (except that year she went to the final) - with those kind of numbers, I find that surprising. V ain't just no grasscourt gal.

Factoid #2: Elena Dementieva plays too much tennis. She should not be losing to Kleybanova.

This is not news. No wonder she has never won a Slam.

Factoid #3: This is the first time ever Novak Djokovic has defended a title.

I don't know whether to class this under 'fluke', 'maturing player' or 'deeply troubling'.

Factoid #4: Juan Carlos Ferrero has still got it.

He may have lost in the final, but JCF has still got serious game. He's now ranked #14 in the world. What is this, 2004?

Mosquito Man

Wow. So Juan Carlos Ferrero is 30 now. Who knew? How time flies.

When we talk about people not fulfilling their potential, it's typically Safin we talk about (if we're talking tennis in the noughties, anyway). Only two Slams, all that talent. Early retirement. Scatty. Sketchy. Inconsistent. Flawed genius. And yes, Safin is all those things. But he's been such a dominant non-fulfiller that I think we forget JCF a bit.

To preface this - I don't necessarily think JCF is an underachiever. But his numbers are pretty similar to Safin's. One of the leaders of the New Balls generation. Slam winner. And for a brief period in the early noughties, damn near unbeatable.

It seems so long ago - and so laughable now - that JCF was thought unbeatable. His nickname is 'Mosquito' and it's for a reason - he plays annoying tennis, the kind of tennis that unsettles his opponents, rather than relying on big weapons. In that respect, he's quite similar to Hewitt, an overachiever - though I suppose you could say that Hewitt had speed as a weapon. When you look at the top ten now, there is no room for a mosquito.

But if you look at the early noughties, mosquito tennis was what was winning. Mosquitoes were at the top of the game. And the antidote to it at that time was Safin and Safinesque playing.

And then Federer happened and the whole game changed, but that's not really what I'm talking about today. If things had gone a little differently, then JCF could be one of those players that we talk about as the greats of the decade. However, it is not to be. The mosquito got swatted eventually when people figured out the key.

I'm not exactly sure where I'm going with this - I certainly didn't intend to end up in a comparison of counterpunching and, um, 'punching' tennis - but the fact remains that once, Juan Carlos Ferrero was the most awesome dude in the game. And now he's definitely not, and he hasn't been for a while, but he keeps going, and keeps playing, and he still, on occasion, wins some stuff. Even if the numbers say he's an underachiever who never went on from a sparkling start to his career.

And that's pretty cool. Kudos, Mosquito.

The Mikhail Youzhny One Good Match Theory

So I picked two finals, lost one. Not a bad ratio. Two thirds. Go me. Yay.

In Rotterdam, we had the Yoker defeating Mikhail 'sometimes I hit my head so hard it bleeds' Youzhny. This was not surprising, though the ending was a bit disappointing. Retirement in a final is always disappointing, even when it's totally understandable.

I have this theory that Mikhail Youzhny has one really, really good match in him in a tournament, and if he uses it up early, then he's screwed. Think US Open, a few years back - he beat Rafa in the quarters and was mediocre in the semi. First round in Australia - he was great when he came back against Gasquet, then lame for the rest, all the way up to the retirement. Today, he literally ran out of steam and got hit by injury after his excellent semi against Djokovic.

And so Soderling got the bacon. I'm still not 100% sure he's back on track, but I'm getting there.

And then Kubot lost to Juan Carlos Ferrero. As if that wouldn't happen. Puh-lease.

The match I was wrong about was Verdasco/Roddick. Roddick won the first but then Verdasco came back to win. However, I am still not convinced about this whole Nando thing. I didn't see the match, so who am I to talk? But he just hasn't reached those heights he achieved in Australia last year. He's still poor man's Rafa.

...and Roddick is injured. We know this, yeah?

Oh, I don't know. I just have this feeling. Roddick is going to get better again and start winning some stuff, and Nando has some work to do. Even though this match turned out this way. Good on Nando for winning, but I'm still not feeling you, dude.

Babies and Impossibilities

So guess who has a new friend in the collective tennis creche? Why yes, that would be Myla and Charlene Federer, who now have another Swiss tot to hang with. Stanislas Wawrinka's wife Ilham Vuilloud gave birth to a baby girl a few days ago. Welcome to the world, Alexia Wawrinka!

Please let these three girls grow up to be tennis players. Switzerland could totally OWN the WTA in a few years. Now if Chiudinelli would just have a daughter, we could see some awesome all-Swiss doubles.

But I don't want to devote all of this post to future tennis players when there are some, you know, current ones doing stuff. I talked about the Soderling/Youzhny final yesterday, so let's talk the other two finals today. We have Roddick and Verdasco in San Jose. Normally I would be all over that and be talking up what a great match it is, but I'm so not feeling Nando right now. He is not the dude he was this time last year. I mean, I know he almost pulled off an awesome comeback against Davydenko in Australia, but that was more because of a Kolya fold than some Nando awesome. Didn't he hit something like 20 doubles in that match?

Beside the point. The point being that I'm not impressed with Nando right now, and he's got some work to do before I readmit him to the ranks of 'worth even really discussing the possiblity of his winning'. If Roddick isn't injured, he should own him. You heard it here.

The other final - Brazil - we have le veteran de Juan Carlos Ferrero (yes, I realise that is inappropriate Franglais, but whatevs) against Lukasz Kubot, who appears to be trying to prove that his run to the round of sixteen in Australia was not a fluke. Despite the fact that it pretty much was a fluke (beating two virtual nobodies and scoring a walkover does not an awesome run make). This one has JC written all over it.

Wow. Sense my optimism.

Stepping Up Everest

Well, I have completely underestimated the Czech Republic. There you go.

I gave Stepanek a good chance against Karlovic, but that somehow pales beside what actually happened. Five epic sets. A world-breaking 78 aces from Karlovic - which, to the best of my knowledge, breaks the previous record by about 20. And Stepanek still won.

Wow.

I'm not a Stepanek fan really, mostly on the grounds that I find him totally creepy. But you cannot deny that the man can play ball. To withstand that kind of intense pressure and come out on top - particularly when you're facing someone who is pretty much unbreakable in a to-the-death five set... that is some serious grit. And guile. And some other stuff starting with g. You've got to applaud the man's mental toughness - facing Karlovic in that kind of fifth set is kind of like a tennis Everest. You can't count on a breaker to get you through. So kudos to you, Radek Stepanek.

And then the other match went five sets as well, though it didn't have anything like the same level of drama. Berdych triumphed over Cilic, which I personally found very surprising. Berdych has been pretty much a non-entity this year, whereas Cilic has been very much an entity. Hell, he made the quarters of the US Open, like, two seconds ago. Where has Berdych been? But Berdych is terribly talented and sometimes that will out. Still, I'm not counting Croatia out of this tie yet. We've got a lot of tennis left yet.

In the other semi, Goliath is currently whaling on David, with Ferrer and Ferrero scoring easy victories over Sela and Levy. I'd look for an inspired Israeli performance in the fourth rubber if they win the doubles... but I still don't really rate them a chance of winning a singles match. At this point, I don't know how high I rate their chances of winning a set.

And just a quick throw to the playoffs - Federer and Wawrinka are a totally mad team. They both demolished their respective Italians. And it's not something you hear often, but when Federer plays on clay, he looks just gorgeous. The way he was sliding into those shots... it was positively balletic. He played a great match and the US Open is clearly behind him. Watch out, indoor season!


Today's Results

Davis Cup (semi finals)

Czech Republic 2, Croatia 0

Tomas Berdych def. Marin Cilic, 6-3 6-3 3-6 4-6 6-3
Radek Stepanek def. Ivo Karlovic, 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (8-6) 6-7 (2-7) 16-14


Spain 2, Israel 0

David Ferrer def. Harel Levy, 6-1 6-4 6-3
Juan Carlos Ferrero def. Dudi Sela, 6-4 6-2 6-0


Bell Challenge (Quebec City)

Melinda Czink def. Nadia Petrova, 7-6 (7-4) retired
Aleksandra Wozniak def. Alla Kudryavtseva, 6-1 6-1
Lucie Safarova def. Bethanie Mattek-Sands, 6-3 6-4
Julia Goerges def. Lilia Osterloh, 6-2 6-4


China GDD Guangzhou International Women's Open (Guangzhou)

Peng Shuai def. Alexandra Panova, 6-2 6-3
Shahar Peer def. Chang Yung-Jan, 6-3 6-1
Ayumi Morita def. Olga Savchuk, 6-3 604
Alberta Brianti def. Anastasija Sevastova, 6-4 6-2

Davis Cup Daze

So, in the complete absence of anything better to talk about today, due to us beign in that lull period after a Slam before tennis gets interesting again, I thought I might do a bit of a Davis Cup preview. That should keep me out of trouble/off the streets, etc etc.

So, semi final #1 - Croatia vs. Czech Republic. This is a team basically consisting of Cilic and Karlovic against Berdych and Stepanek.

This is an interesting matchup. I'm leaning towards the Czechs in the doubles, purely because they have Lukas Dlouhy, but doubles is not my area of expertise so I'm just going to talk about the singles. There are some very interesting match ups, because all four of these players are capable of beating just about anyone if they run hot.

Cilic is the most recent to demonstrate this, beating Andy Murray in straight sets at the US Open and then getting off to a flier against eventual champ JMDP before crumbling in a heap. If he can, you know, not crumble, I think he'll win both his singles matches. I think Stepanek will give him more trouble than Berdych, because Berdych has done pretty much fat nothing this year, whereas Stepanek has done some, like, good stuff and whatnot, but I think Cilic is the most talented of the four players out there and, meltdown aside, I think he'll bring home the bacon for Croatia.

I'm unsure whether Karlovic will be a great second banana or whether he'll be a liability. He's a strange way, Dr Ivo - that huge serve can beat just about anyone, but if they find a way around that, he's pretty much screwed. I can see Stepanek figuring him out pretty early on... Berdych maybe not so much. He might do the figuring, but I can't see him delivering.

So in summation, I think Croatia will come away 3-1 in the singles, their one loss being Karlovic to Stepanek. This will put them back in the final, where they will face...

...the winner of semi final #2, Spain vs Israel. And look, I know Israel are the underdogs and people like supporting the underdogs, but if Spain lose this tie, I will eat my sofa. They are missing their best Davis Cup dudes, Nadal and Verdasco, but the depth that Spain presents is so ridiculous I can't see them losing. Then again, I didn't see Russia losing to Israel either, but I doubt the Spaniards will be quite as fragile.

I give Israel a very decent shot in the doubles. Erlich and Ram are a first rate team. But I really can't see either Dudi Sela or Harel Levy coming through the Mosquito, Juan Carlos Ferrero, who has been playing pretty damn good of late. The other singles player, David Ferrer, has occasionally proved to be a bit shaky, but I'd be a bit surprised if he took any major losses here. And even if he did, Feliciano Lopez and Tommy Robredo are both excellent players - actually, I wouldn't be surprised to see Robredo playing singles at all. Spain have options. I don't think Israel really have that luxury.

I think Spain's going to go 4-0 on singles here, whoever plays. Israel might win the doubles, but if Spain lose this tie, I will be very surprised.

So let the games begin. And let me be proven wrong.

Oh, and hopp Suisse!


Today's Results

Bell Challenge (Quebec City)

Lilia Osterloh def. Amra Sadikovic, 6-3 2-6 6-2
Bethanie Mattek-Sands def. Vania King, 6-3 6-3


China GDD Guangzhou International Women's Open (Guangzhou)

Anastasija Sevastova def. Anabel Medina Garrigues, 3-6 6-3 6-1
Peng Shuai def. Chanelle Scheepers, 6-3 6-2
Chang Yung-Jan def. Maria Elena Camerin, 6-3 3-6 7-6 (7-2)
Olga Savchuk def. Hsieh Su-Wei, 6-4 6-4

No Muss, No Fuss

Following in the footsteps of Jonas Bjorkman not so long ago, Thomas Johansson has just announced his retirement from tennis, with immediate effect. After fifteen years travelling round the world, he's now decided it's time to hang up his racquet.

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I kind of understand why he's decided to go so quickly, no muss, no fuss. His wife had a baby a few weeks ago (their second child) and understandably, when you're on the decline and you're dogged by injury anyway, you want to go and spend some time with your family. All the best to you, Thomas - even if I wished you'd saved it a few weeks and played one last Wimbledon.

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The other reason why it's sort of OK for him to go so quickly - I doubt it had anything to do with his decision, but it seems sort of symbolic to me - is that Swedish tennis is in good hands now. When Bjorkman retired, Johansson sort of became the new elder, I suppose - and with his Grand Slam title, he deserves that kind of status. Swedish tennis has been looking pretty barren for a long time now - there was that spurt of hope when Joachim Johansson was looking so dangerous, but then he went and got injured, and retired, and came back, and got injured and all kinds of craziness. But Swedish tennis has got a new guy playing with the big boys now. Thomas Johansson can retire knowing that Robin Soderling... he got it. He's grown up enough now to be the figurehead.

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Like I said, probably had little to do with his decision, but nice nonetheless.

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Speaking of people announcing their retirement, one guy rumoured to maybe be throwing in the towel at the end of the year is Juan Carlos Ferrero, but with the run of form he's on I don't know if he'd want to. Semis at Queen's for the unseeded Spaniard, after a victory over Steve Darcis. I know Queen's is hardly... well, Wimbledon... but for a non-Rafa Spaniard on grass, that is a damn good result. Nice work, JC!

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Today's Results

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Gerry Weber Open (Halle)

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Novak Djokovic def. Jurgen Melzer, 6-1 6-4

Philipp Kohlschreiber def. Andreas Beck, 3-6 6-3 6-3

Olivier Rochus def. Benjamin Becker, 6-7 (4-7) 6-3 6-3

Tommy Haas def. Mischa Zverev, 7-6 (7-5) 6-2*

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AEGON Championships (Queen's Club)

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Andy Murray def. Mardy Fish, 7-5 6-3

Andy Roddick def. Ivo Karlovic, 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-5)

James Blake def. Mikhail Youzhny, 7-6 (7-5) 6-3

Juan Carlos Ferrero def. Steve Darcis, 4-6 6-3 6-4

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AEGON Classic (Birmingham)

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Magdalena Rybarikova def. Urszula Radwanska, 6-3 6-3

Sania Mirza def. Melinda Czink, 6-1 7-6 (7-4)

Na Li def. Stefanie Voegele, 6-3 7-6 (7-3)

Maria Sharapova def. Yanina Wickmayer, 6-1 2-6 6-3

Big Fish

So Novak Djokovic is having to save five match points againt Florent Serra these days, eh? He better hope he played himself into form in that saving, because that would have been a bad loss - worse than to Kohlschreiber at Roland Garros, I think. At least Kohlschreiber is a genuine underachiever who coulda bin somebody. Serra is pretty much a journeyman. That would have been a big, big badness for Novak.

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Not that I would have minded that much, obviously, but it might impact on the competition for Wimbledon, and I love tennis. So yeah, you better hope, Novak. You better hope.

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The other member of the Fantastic Four in action today was Andy Murray, and it looks like he had a whale of a time beating Guillermo Garcia-Lopez. Remember how he was pretty much a standard top ten player until he had that big win over Gasquet at Wimbledon last year and suddenly found himself in the upper echelons? It'll be interesting to see how he does at the Big W this year, mark my words.

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Someone it will not be interesting to watch is Gilles Simon. Seriously, how is he still in the top ten? He has done big fat nothing this year, and that big fat nothing is continuing. It was a fluke, yeah? him having that great run last year? I'm sure he's a nice guy and all, but he just seems out of his depth with the fish he's swimming with at the moment...

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...but on a gladder note, glasses should be raised to Andreas Beck - great work Andreas, coming through the Halle draw very nicely right now - and Juan Carlos Ferrero. JC seems to be having his best year in ages so far, what with winning that title and now doing pretty well at Queen's - nice one!

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Today's Results

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Gerry Weber Open (Halle)

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Novak Djokovic def. Florent Serra, 5-7 7-5 6-1

Jurgen Melzer def. Nicolas Kiefer, 6-1 retired

Andreas Beck def. Lukas Lacko, 7-5 7-6 (7-5)

Olivier Rochus def. Philipp Petzschner, 5-7 7-5 6-2

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AEGON Championships (Queen's Club)

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Andy Murray def. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, 6-4 6-4

Andy Roddick def. Lleyton Hewitt, 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (7-4)

Mikhail Youzhny def. Gilles Simon, 6-1 2-6 6-2

James Blake def. Sam Querrey, 6-4 4-6 6-3

Mardy Fish def. Feliciano Lopez, 6-1 6-4

Ivo Karlovic def. Nicolas Mahut, 6-3 6-4

Juan Carlos Ferrero def. Xavier Malisse, 6-4 7-6 (7-4)

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AEGON Classic (Birmingham)

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Maria Sharapova def. Alexa Glatch, 6-3 6-4

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova def. Elena Baltacha, 6-7 (1-7) 6-3 7-6 (7-3)

Francesca Schiavone def. Mariya Koryttseva, 6-1 6-1

Yanina Wickmayer def. Michaella Krajicek, 6-2 6-4

Li Na def. Jarmila Groth, 6-4 2-6 6-1

Roberta Vinci def. Lilia Osterloh, 6-4 6-2

Zheng Jie def. Melanie South, 6-3 6-1

Melinda Czink def. Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, 6-2 6-3

Ursula Radwanska def. Petra Cetkovska, 6-3 7-5

Julia Goerges def. Sara Errani, 6-4 5-7 7-5

Magdalena Rybarikova def. Chanelle Scheepers, 6-7 (8-10) 6-1 6-3

Aravane Rezai def. Alla Kudryavtseva, 7-6 (14-12) 3-6 6-2

Stefanie Voegele def. Naomi Cavaday, 6-4 6-2

Yanina Wickmayer def. Roberta Vinci, 6-1 6-4

Maria Sharapova def. Francesca Schiavone, 6-1 6-3

Sania Mirza def. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 7-6 (7-3) 3-6 6-2

Urszula Radwanska def. Julia Goerges, 7-6 (7-3) 6-3

Melinda Czink def. Aleksandra Wozniak, 6-7 (7-9) 7-5 7-5

Li Na def. Aravane Rezai, 7-5 6-4

Magdalena Rybarikova def. Zheng Jie, 7-6 (12-10) 6-4

One Sixteenth

The first round is complete - well, mostly: there are a few matches that were suspended because of rain, but we're largely there. All of the big guns in both men and women's matches have come through safely to the last 64 - which is a good thing - but we've lost a few of the secondary characters (the medium guns?) which always livens things up a little. We've farewelled Karlovic, Mauresmo and Berdych, among others - today we said goodbye to Schuettler, Blake and Fish from the men, and Peng from the women.

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I'll tell you who nearly screwed around with this, though, and that was Serena Williams. She won her first match of the year on clay, beating Klara Zakopalova (does memory serve - she lost to Zakopalova on clay already this year, yesno? At Marbella, maybe?) but it was a near run thing. Three sets, 6-4 in the third. I am not liking the look of her at all at the moment. She's clearly injured and if she makes it to the second week I will be very surprised.

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But that's not to say it's impossible. She's Serena, after all.

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While we're still on women's tennis I would like to take this moment to point out something I find quite remarkable. Australia had six entrants in the main draw of Roland Garros - two men and four women (I don't think I've left anyone out - apologies if I have!) This is unremarkable in and of itself, but five of them made it through to the second round. Now that is something pretty special for Australian tennis. Bernard Tomic went down to Philipp Kohlschreiber, but Hewitt is through, and all four of our women: Stosur, Dokic, Groth and Rogowska. That would be four Aussies of the final 64 in the women's draw. That means a sixteenth of the draw is Australian. Now that has not happened for a LONG time. Nice work, girls!

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I was particularly impressed with Stosur, who overcame Italian veteran Francesca Schiavone in straights. Schiavone is wily and good on clay - that's a good victory. Dokic took a set to warm up but then she breezed past Karolina Sprem. I was very impressed with both of them.

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Over to the blokes, and the woes of the Americans continue - Blake and Fish, both American seeds, crashed out to random Argentines: Leonardo Mayer and Maximo Gonzalez respectively. But hey, at least Andy Roddick is into the second round. That's a victory in and of itself. And Alexa Glatch is someone to cheer for.

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The match of the day over there was a battle between unseeded old-school veterans, and it was a titanic struggle - the five set epic between Juan Carlos Ferrero and Ivan Ljubicic. Now that was a match. Ferrero came out on top, but that was one to remember for both players, I think. There have been a few five set encounters in this first round, but that is one of the best of them. I was sad they couldn't both win!

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Today's Results

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French Open (Roland Garros)

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Men's Draw

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Jo-Wilfried Rsonga def. Julien Benneteau, 6-4 3-6 6-3 6-4

Novak Djokovic def. Nicolas Lapentti, 6-3 3-1 retired

Gael Monfils def. Bobby Reynolds, 6-2 6-3 6-1

Juan Martin del Potro def. Michael Llodra, 6-3 6-3 6-1

Leonardo Mayer def. James Blake, 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 6-2

Juan Carlos Ferrero def. Ivan Ljubici, 2-6 6-4 6-4 3-6 6-3

Maximo Gonzalez def. Mardy Fish, 6-3 1-6 6-4 7-6 (7-4)

Marc Gicquel def. Rainer Schuettler, 6-0 6-0 6-4

Sergiy Stakhovsky def. Brian Dabul, 4-6 7-5 7-6 (7-2) 6-3

Daniel Gimeno-Traver def. Evgeny Korolev, 6-4 retired

Tommy Robredo def. Adrian Mannarino, 6-2 6-1 6-2

Tommy Haas def. Andrei Pavel, 6-1 6-4 6-4

Juan Monaco def. Marcos Baghdatis, 6-3 6-2 6-4

Philipp Kohlschreiber def. Bernard Tomic, 6-1 6-2 6-2

Andreas Beck def. Ivan Navarro, 7-6 (11-9) 6-4 6-1

Viktor Troicki def. Lukasz Kubot, 3-6 6-3 6-4 6-7 (4-7) 6-3

Victor Crivoi def. Simon Greul, 6-1 7-6 (7-1) 6-2

Andreas Seppi def. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, 6-3 6-3 6-1

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Women's Draw

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Jelena Jankovic def. Petra Cetkovska, 6-2 6-3

Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Claire Feuerstein, 6-1 6-4

Serena Williams def. Klara Zakopalova, 6-3 6-7 (5-7) 6-4

Virginie Razzano def. Daniela Hantuchova, 6-3 6-3

Elena Demetieva def. Chanelle Scheepers, 6-4 6-3

Caroline Wozniacki def. Vera Dushevina, 4-6 7-5 6-1

Sybille Bammer def. Nathalie Dechy, 6-3 7-6 (7-1)

Anabel Medina Garrigues def. Ekaterina Makarova, 6-2 5-7 6-0

Melinda Czaink def. Anastasija Sevastova, 3-6 6-4 6-1

Viktoriya Kutuzova def. Zuzanna Ondraskova, 6-2 6-4

Sorana Cirstea def. Carly Gullickson, 6-4 6-2

Yanina Wickmayer def. Urszula Radwanska, 4-6 6-3 6-0

Petra Martic def. Mara Santangelo, 6-4 6-2

Jelena Dokic def. Karolina Sprem, 3-6 6-1 6-2

Galina Voskoboeva def. Sania Mirza, 6-4 7-6 (7-3)

Magdalena Rybarikova def. Kristina Mladenovic, 6-1 2-6 8-6

Samantha Stosur def. Francesca Schiavone, 6-4 6-2

Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez def. Shuai Peng, 1-6 6-2 6-4

Aleksandra Wozniak def. Monica Niculescu, 6-4 4-6 6-3

Virginia Ruano Pascual def. Nicole Vaidisova, 6-4 6-3

Something Old, Something New (Something Borrowed, Something Blue)

I got my wish - Juan Carlos Ferrero and Lleyton Hewitt both won titles overnight, in Casablanca and Houston respectively. Good on you, boys! Ferrero hasn't won a title since 2003, so huge kudos to him, and Hewitt hasn't been in a final for a couple of years, so it's a huge victory for them both. It's wonderful to see that there's still some tennis in these guys yet. It is almost ten years since the rise of the New Balls generation, headed up by Federer, Hewitt and Safin - and I am glad that they're not dead yet. (Though with Federer still at the top of his game, whoever would have thought that?)
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I have to devote a little space to our latest married couple of the sport - congratulations Roger and Mirka! I wrote an article about them on my other blog, The Black Valentine's Day Manifesto, and in the rush of people searching for pictures of their wedding, my hits have gone up exponentially. (No, I have no pictures - I don't think anyone does!) I choose to believe that Roger has simply been distracted by flower arrangements and big white meringue dresses of late, and now that that's all out of the way and he and Mirka have had their grand one day honeymoon, he'll kick the marriage off with a solid performance in Monte Carlo.
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(Yes, I realise I am delusional, but it is just so lovely!)*
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Speaking of Monte Carlo, it has started and once again, I'm being disappointed by the young guns. The old guys are going great - but Ernests, Ernests! Was it really necessary to lose in such convincing fashion to Philipp Kohlschreiber? I was hoping that being on clay, where he performed so well last year, would be good. Not yet, I suppose. Good wins for Stan Wawrinka and Tommy Robredo, though - and also to Jelena Jankovic, who won the title in Andalucia, knocking out Carla Suarez Navarro, who I really thought was going to get her. I wouldn't go so far as to say she's back, but maybe there's a smidgeon of hope for Jelena yet.
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Today's Results
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Monte Carlo Rolex Masters (Monte Carlo)
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Tommy Robredo def. Rainer Schuettler, 6-1 6-4
Stanislas Wawrinka def. Viktor Troicki, 6-2 6-3
Simone Bolelli def. Robin Soderling, 6-4 1-6 6-3
Philipp Kohlschreiber def. Ernests Gulbis, 6-1 6-3
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Grand Prix Hassan II (Casablanca)
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Juan Carlos Ferrero def. Florent Serra, 6-4 7-5
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US Men's Clay Court Championships (Houston)
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Lleyton Hewitt def. Wayne Odesnik, 6-2 7-5
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Andalucia Tennis Experience (Marbella)
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Jelena Jankovic def. Carla Suárez Navarro, 6-3 3-6 6-3
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MPS Group Championships (Ponte Vedra Beach)
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Caroline Wozniacki def. Aleksandra Wozniak, 6-1 6-2

Time Capsule

One would be forgiven, looking at the results out of Houston and Casablanca this week, that the tour had gone back in time some four, five years. In each tournament we have a real veteran in the final - Lleyton Hewitt in Houston, in what has to be his first final in a couple of years, and Juan Carlos Ferrero, who is apparently considering pulling a Marat and retiring at the end of the year, in Casablanca.

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Let's start with JC, who for about six months in the earlier part of this decade had a Federesque aura of total invincibility. I would love to see him go out with a bang, if he does intend to retire this year. It was a bit sad when he wasn't able to keep up with the Joneses of the tennis world once the Hispano-Suisse domination machine started to roll, because he is really an awesome player to watch. He has a real elegance to his shots - especially on clay - and he is smart. We mustn't forget that he and Federer are the only two players to beat Rafa on clay in the last five-odd years. Sure, Rafa was injured at the time, but still - quite a feat for JC.

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So now he's in the final of Casablanca against Florent Serra (who is also not exactly a tennis spring chicken, though he hasn't reached the veteran status of JC yet). I would dearly love to see him win it. Wouldn't it be fabulous to see the man who once was so invincible have another great run in the twilight of his tennis years? (Wasn't that a convoluted rhetorical question?)

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Same goes for Lleyton Hewitt, for whom, despite all my best efforts, I have a soft spot. (Yes, even after the Lleyton/Bec/Mia matching outfit fashion disaster at the Logies. I don't know what's wrong with me.) He'll face Wayne Odesnik - who has also been around for quite some years - in the final in Houston, and I think it is safe to say that this is a final no one would have expected! I'm pulling for Lleyton, though I wouldn't be surprised if the home crowd advantage got big Wayne over the line... but it really is lovely to see the old guys (I say old - most of them aren't even in their thirties!) doing so well this week. It is so rare!

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Today's Results

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Grand Prix Hassan II (Casablanca)

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Juan Carlos Ferrero def. Igor Andreev, 7-6 (11-9) 6-3

Florent Serra def. Albert Montanes, 6-4 6-4

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US Men's Clay Court Championships (Houston)

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Wayne Odesnik def. Bjorn Phau, 6-4 6-3

Lleyton Hewitt def. Evgeny Korolev, 7-6 (7-4) 6-4

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Andalucia Tennis Experience (Marbella)

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Jelena Jankovic def. Anabel Medina Garrigues, 7-5 6-2

Carla Suárez Navarro def. Sorana Cirstea, 6-2 6-7 (5-7) 6-2

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MPS Group Championships (Ponte Vedra Beach)

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Aleksandra Wozniak def. Nadia Petrova, 6-4 4-6 6-2

Caroline Wozniacki def. Elena Vesnina, 2-6 6-3 7-6 (7-4)

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ETA: I just read that Roger Federer and Mirka Vavrinec got married over the Easter weekend - how lovely! Congratulations from Tennis From The Backseat!

Pim-Pim Returns

So what's this I hear about Joachim Johansson having a wildcard in Stockholm this week? Didn't he retire?

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...a little research shows that he's making a comeback. I don't really know that much about Pim-Pim, but hasn't he tried this comeback lark before? I seem to recall it didn't work so well. He has a chronic shoulder injury or something. I mean, I'm sure all this rest will have done him a world of good, but will it really work out, if the injury was bad enough to force him into retirement?

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I guess he and his doctors know better than me. I will watch his comeback with scepticism - though I have no objection to being wrong. It'd be nice to see a comeback go right, since they so rarely do.

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I had two of my Stars in action today, and both of them won, which was nice. One of them, Jeremy Chardy, is one of my forgotten Stars - he's kind of been relegated to hanger-on status with Eduardo Schwank, so it's nice to see him back in action and doin g well. He took out Potito Starace, who I am under the impression is no slouch, so nice work there, Jeremy: keep it up, and you can be back in with the big boys in the Stars club.

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One of the Stars who definitely is one of the big boys is wee Kei Nishikori, and he had a great victory today over Marcel Granollers, who was the eighth seed. Isn't this kid just something else? He may have suffered a tough loss in Tokyo, but it was a few rounds in, and he had some good victories first. That's what's so good about him - and also about Marin Cilic in particular. They may not win titles all the time, but you can rely on them to make it in a round or two. They very rarely suffer first round losses, unless they're playing someone really excellent, like Federer or Nadal or someone. This is a very good omen for the future, I think: consistency is one of the most important attributes a player can have, in my humble opinion.

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And how about Juan Carlos Ferrero upsetting Ivo Karlovic? He's a Star of the Past, for sure - his heyday was about 2003 - but I do like seeing him do well. He keeps hanging in there - he's tenacious, and I dig that. Good on you, JC!

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Today's Results

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Kremlin Cup (Moscow)

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Men's Draw

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Jeremy Chardy def. Potito Starace, 3-6 6-1 6-4

Guillermo Garcia-Lopez def. Nicolas Devilder, 6-2 6-4

Fabrice Santoro def. Yuri Schukin, 4-6 7-6 (7-2) 6-4

Igor Andreev def. Yen-hsun Lu, 6-2 retired

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Women's Draw

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Dominika Cibulkova def. Marion Bartoli, 6-1 4-1 retired

Amélie Mauresmo def. Alizé Cornet, 6-7 (3-7) 6-3 6-4

Vera Dushevina def. Nicole Vaidisova, 6-1 3-6 6-3

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If Stockholm Open (Stockholm)

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Dominik Hrbaty def. Pablo Andujar, 6-2 6-1

Nicolas Lapentti def. Ivan Navarro, 3-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-5

Kei Nishikori def. Marcel Granollers, 2-6 6-4 6-2

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Bank Austria Tennis Trophy (Vienna)

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Juan Carlos Ferrero def. Ivo Karlovic, 6-4 7-6 (7-4)

Fernando Verdasco def. Victor Crivoi, 6-4 6-4

Guillermo Canas def. Andreas Seppi, 7-6 (7-2) 6-3

Jan Hernych def. Roko Karanusic, 4-6 6-4 7-6 (7-5)

Feliciano Lopez def. Agustin Calleri, 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (7-4)

Carlos Moya def. Michael Berrer, 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (8-6)

Tenacious JC

I am still steaming under the hat after the Djokovic saga of yesterday, but will attempt to put my rage behind me. The older Djokovic won. Spit spit. I was hoping he would crash out in the earliest possible round to vindicate me, but alas, 'twas not to be. But there is still time for him to lose to a player ranked a long way below him! A LONG TIME!

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Let's talk about the junior Davis Cup instead. I don't have much to say, except c'mon Aussie! The boys (being James Duckworth, Maverick Banes and Jarryd Chaplin) slaughtered Peru in their second rubber and will now face top seeds Russia tomorrow. And they can so win. I've said it once, I'll say it again - Australian tennis sucks right now, but when these boys grow up, it's going to rock the socks of the tennis world.

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Onto another sporting nation of greatness, being Spain. They have had some interesting mixed fortunes in Beijing. David Ferrer was the top seed, but he's been knocked out by Dudi Sela - le drama! Ferrer really has gone away a bit towards the end of this season. He had some good results earlier but he's gone off the boil... which is sad, because I find his game interesting. He has to be one of the best returners on the circuit, which means the proportion of rallies in his games is high, and that makes for interesting tennis, even if he does play largely defensively, which can be dull.

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But on the flip side for Spain, Juan Carlos Ferrero scored an upset victory! Sure, it was over Fernando Verdasco, another Spaniard, but still. JC is a funny one. He's a former #1 and he had a bit of mystique for a while there, but it's like no one really takes him seriously any more. It's not like with Safin, where everyone still fears him because they know the potential for his explosive game is still there. No one fears JC any more... and, to be fair, he hasn't really given them reason to. He's certainly capable of excellent play - we must remember that it was he who beat Rafa in Rome, which is no mean feat, even if Rafa did have blisters the size of dinner plates. But he just doesn't bring it much any more. The mighty have fallen. But he's clinging on, JC, clinging on tenaciously.

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Meanwhile, anyone else looking forward to the Ana Ivanovic/Zheng Jie Wimbledon rematch? Put it this way - I would not be betting on Ana...

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Today's Results

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Thailand Open (Bangkok)

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Novak Djokovic def. Simon Stadler, 6-1 6-3

Tomas Berdych def. Simone Bolelli, 7-5 6-1

Nicolas Mahut def. Jarkko Nieminen, 6-4 3-6 6-3

Robin Soderling def. Teimuraz Gabashvili, 6-1 6-3

Jurgen Melzer def. Viktor Troicki, 6-4 7-6 (7-4)

Philipp Petzschner def. Mischa Zverev, 7-6 (7-3) 3-6 6-1

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China Open (Beijing)

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Men's Draw

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Dudi Sela def. David Ferrer, 6-3 6-3

Andy Roddick def. Brendan Evans, 6-4 6-3

Fernando Gonzalez def. Go Soeda, 3-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-1

Richard Gasquet def. Yen-hsun Lu, 7-5 6-1

Juan Carlos Ferrero def. Fernando Verdasco, 7-5 6-4

Tommy Robredo def. Ivo Minar, 6-2 6-3

Rainer Schuettler def. Jean-Claude Scherrer, 6-1 6-4

Bjorn Phau def. Sam Querrey, 5-7 6-3 6-4

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Women's Draw

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Ana Ivanovic def. Alizé Cornet, 6-1 7-6 (7-1)

Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Alla Kudryavtseva, 6-2 6-3

Vera Zvonareva def. Francesca Schiavone, 7-6 (7-5) 6-2

Dominika Cibulkova def. Anna Chakvetadze, 6-3 6-2

Anabel Medina Garrigues def. Agnes Szavay, 6-2 6-2

Zheng Jie def. Ai Sugiyama, 6-1 6-2

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Hansol Korea Open (Seoul)

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Maria Kirilenko def. Lucie Safarova, 6-3 6-3

Kaia Kanepi def. Anastasia Pivovarova, 6-1 6-1

Pauline Parmentier def. Stéphanie Dubois, 6-3 6-2

Yanina Wickmayer def. Chan Yung-Jan, 6-3 7-6 (7-2)